RBT Exam Study Guide Unit D: Behavior Reduction

The focus of this page in our complimentary RBT Exam Study Guide is on reducing behaviors. It relates with Section D of the RBT Task List, which contains the following tasks about behavior reduction:

• Recognize the critical components of a written behavior reduction plan.
• Explain the primary functions of behavior.
• Apply modifications of antecedents such as motivating operations and discriminative stimuli to implement the necessary interventions.
• Apply appropriate differential reinforcement procedures
• Apply procedures to implement extinction.
• Apply crisis/emergency procedures as per set protocols.

Significance of behavior reduction in ABA

Many ABA therapy participants engage in behaviors that are detrimental to others or themselves or that impede their capacity to learn and operate. All behavior involves communication, as we will cover in more detail in Unit D. Since every behavior has a cause, it is possible to change difficult behaviors in ways that promote learning and development.

It is crucial to remember that not every autistic child exhibits disruptive or “maladaptive” behaviors. It is possible that some of your customers will not have any set goals for behavior reduction. Additionally, ABA is not limited to children with developmental impairments; it can be applied to a wide range of populations. The behavioral concepts presented in this section can also be applied to neurotypical people.

RBT Task D-1: Identify essential components of a written behavior reduction plan.

Each customer will have a plan to reduce a written behavior, also known as the Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP). The scheme is made by a BCBA and has been implemented by RBT and other people working with the student. Customers require the goals of reduction in behavior that shows harmful behavior or behavior that disrupts their ability to learn or interact with others, e.g., you can also hear this behavior as “target behavior” or “malicious” or referred to as “unfair.”

A behaviorally reduced plan aims to outline strategies and interventions that all team members should follow to prevent and respond to intermediate behavior. Each student’s plan is adapted to their personal needs, so no two will be the same at all.

All of the following details will be included in a behavior reduction plan:

• The behaviors that are being reduced. Every behavior you are aiming for will have an operational definition. This definition will outline the precise appearance of the activity.
• Who will carry out the plan for behavior reduction? To guarantee transparency, all those in charge of the plan should be involved. For instance, it should explicitly state that parents and other caregivers will also be in charge of carrying out the plan and define their responsibilities.
• Preventative tactics, sometimes referred to as antecedent manipulations or antecedent techniques. Before allowing the student to perform a goal activity, you employ these techniques to lessen the possibility that they will happen.
• Resultant tactics. When the target behavior does occur, you should follow these steps to react to it. For instance, dismissing the behavior, issuing a command, switching to another activity, taking away a token, etc.
• Responses to emergencies. The behavior plan should contain a crisis strategy for any target behavior that could endanger the client or others.

RBT Task D-2: Describe common functions of behavior.

Every conduct has a reason, as was previously said. In all activity, the person is attempting to satisfy a need, which we call the functions of behavior in ABA. According to research, behavioral functions can be divided into four major areas. Behavior analysts can identify the function or functions of their clients’ interfering behaviors by doing functional behavior assessments.

Why is it important to know the function of a behavior?

When creating a behavior reduction strategy, the function is an essential component. Knowing the function enables us to determine how to modify the learner’s surroundings so they can meet their needs without exhibiting the desired behavior. For instance, if we are aware that a child smacks people to obtain their attention, we can design interventions that teach them alternative techniques.

Behavior serves the following purposes:

• Automatic reinforcement: Doing something because it makes you feel good. Do you bite your fingernails? Are your feet tapping the floor? Hum? These actions are frequently classified as automatic reinforcement.
• Avoidance or escape: Taking part in an action to get out of or stay out of an uncomfortable circumstance. For instance, when given an uninteresting or overly simple activity, students tend to toss the materials in an attempt to avoid it.
• Attention: Acting in a way to attract someone’s notice. When their focus is diverted elsewhere, a youngster may scream as soon as their mother answers the phone or push or punch peers to get their attention.
• Access to tangibles: Acting in a way that grants one access to a material object or activity. A child might cry because they want to play on the playground, for instance.

Keep in mind that all behaviors—not only “maladaptive” ones—are subject to the functions of behavior. You are attempting to get someone’s attention when you call him or her to check in. The purpose of your activity is probably to escape if you pull off the highway during rush hour due to a traffic bottleneck. Examine a few of your own actions and speculate on their possible purposes.

RBT Task D-3: Implement interventions based on modification of antecedents such as motivating operations and discriminative stimuli

Anything that happens right before a behavior of interest is called an antecedent. By altering the configuration of the surroundings, we can influence behavior. Stated otherwise, we alter the antecedents. Think about this actual instance: You decide to eat healthier because you want to lose weight. Let’s say your home usually has a wide variety of junk food selections. Without changing your surroundings by getting rid of junk food, it would be challenging to reach your objective.

To prevent temptation, you start ordering only healthy foods and snacks and start performing grocery pickup rather than in-store shopping. You are more likely to succeed in eating healthily if you only have wholesome food in your home. You are changing the antecedents to eating by doing this. You might employ the following typical antecedent adjustments (also known as antecedent manipulations) with your clients:

• Visual aids and timetables
• Sequence of high-probability requests
• Priming
• Presenting options
• Timers
• Non-contingent reinforcement

The value of something can be increased or decreased by motivating operations (MOs), which can alter how well a stimulus works as a reinforcer. Establishing operations (EOs) and abolishing operations (AOs) are the two subcategories of motivating operations. A reinforcer’s effectiveness is increased when operations are established and decreased when they are abolished.

A continuum of deprivation to satiation can be used to conceptualize EOs and AOs. When something you truly appreciate is eventually given to you after being denied it for a long time, it is more rewarding. It is an establishing operation, this deprivation.

For instance, you ran out of bubbles last week, even though your client loves them and finds them to be very reinforcing. After you, bring a new bottle after a week without any bubbles. For a week, the client was “starved of” bubbles, which made them much more reinforcing than normal. In some circumstances, we can impose deprivation to increase target behaviors by making things more reinforcing.

Eliminating operations is at the other extreme of the spectrum. Have there ever been instances where you overindulged to the point where you briefly lost interest in it? We refer to that as satiation. This is the process of abolishing operations. Something stops being reinforcing to someone when they are satisfied with it. For instance, your client likes to run and jump and is quite energetic.

RBT Task D-4: Implement differential reinforcement procedures (e.g., DRA, DRO).

To change behavior, ABA frequently employs the technique of differential reinforcement. Let’s first go over the definition of differential reinforcement before discussing the many kinds of differential reinforcement techniques.

The process of adding (positive) or removing (negative) something after a specific behavior makes the behavior is more likely to occur in the future. This is known as reinforcement. When a behavior that has previously been reinforced happens, extinction is the act of withholding reinforcement.

What is Differential Reinforcement?

Differential reinforcement is the process of putting the target behavior (inappropriate or maladaptive) on extinction while rewarding other predetermined actions.

Two Most Common Differential Reinforcement Techniques include:

1. Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors (DRO)

All behaviors that are not the target activity (keep in mind, the target behavior) receive reinforcement. The target behavior is what you want to decrease. To put it another way, you do not reinforce the learner when they exhibit the desired behavior. On the other hand, they can be rewarded for any other actions.

Example: Consider, for instance, that you apply a DRO to your client’s yelling behavior. Reinforces are stopped when the client yells. You reinforce him while he is engaged in any other activity. This usually happens on an interval schedule, when the client gets rewarded for any activity other than the goal behavior every X minutes.

2. Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA)

This technique involves giving reinforcement for a designated alternative behavior while depriving the target activity of reinforcement. In this instance, you are rewarding particular, more suitable behaviors or being flexible for the student. The learner should be able to accomplish the same goal with the alternate behavior.

Example: Consider a scenario in which a child strikes her parents to gain their attention. A DRA would involve giving her attention for appropriate attention-seeking activities, such as saying, “Hey, Mom, check this out!” rather than when she hits. “Want to play with me?” or give them a light shoulder tap.

Two things occur when a differential reinforcement approach is used: one behavior rises as a result of reinforcement, while another behavior falls as a result of extinction.

RBT Task D-5: Implement extinction procedures

While we discussed extinction in Task D-4, let’s delve a little deeper into what it is.

Withholding reinforcement for previously reinforced actions is known as extinction, and it is a behavior modification technique. This is significant because behaviors that have never been reinforced cannot be subjected to extinction.

Consider dinosaurs. They no longer exist, although they once did. They are hence extinct. Similarly, behaviors that a learner used to demonstrate but no longer does are regarded as extinct in ABA. When a behavior loses contact with reinforcement, it gradually diminishes until it is no longer demonstrated.

The function of the behavior determines the sort of extinction that is employed; the behavior analyst would evaluate the manner in which the behavior was previously reinforced. The secret to extinction is to stop that kind of reinforcement. For instance, if a kid yells Access to tangibles would be the function of going to their mom to acquire a sucker. Withholding reinforcement by not giving the youngster a sucker when they scream would be the extinction strategy for this.

Extinction is often misinterpreted. Some believe it to be a form of punishment. Extinction, however, is not a form of reinforcement or punishment. Extinction is sometimes misunderstood to suggest that you should neglect the child. Ignoring the action (not paying attention to it) is the first step in attention extinction. But there are other applications for extinction as well. Furthermore, neglecting the youngster entirely is not the same as attention extinction.

The individual usually starts doing the desired behavior more frequently, for longer periods of time, or with greater intensity when extinction is initially applied. We call this an extinction explosion. It’s only transitory before the habit starts to decline. The probability and impact of an extinction burst can be decreased by teaching and rewarding a replacement behavior in addition to extinction.

RBT Task D-6: Implement crisis/emergency procedures according to protocol.

A crisis plan provides important details and protocols to adhere to in case of an emergency. Not all students will be prepared for emergencies. However, a crisis plan is required to ensure everyone’s safety if your client displays actions that could endanger themselves or others. For instance, if your client runs away from home, a crisis plan might include what to do if they flee (or try to escape) the house.

Medical emergencies can also be handled with crisis plans. For example, a crisis plan would include what to do in the event of a medical emergency during a treatment session for a student who has asthma or a seizure disorder. The most crucial thing to remember is that emergency plans are individualized.

RBT Behavior Reduction Quiz